Drying process and apparatus therefor



July 15 1924-.

T. BOBERG DRYING PROCESS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed Feb. 12 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet l .Z'zwezvior Z B0 be .35 '5 5M 1 Amzzzgu .Fuiy 15 1924-. 15%,513

T. BOBERG DRYING- PROCESS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed Feb. 12, 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 8 luiy 15 1924. 1,501,513

T. BOBERG DRYING PROCESS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed Feb. 12 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 .T. BOBERG- DRYING PROCESS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed Feb. 12 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 4- Patented-July 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT j ornca.

TEOFRON .BOBEBJG, OI .OLAIPHAM PARK, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIIGNOB TO TECHNO- OEEMIGAL IFAIBORATO'RIES LIMITED, OF DONDON, GLAND.

DRYING PROCESS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR.

Application fled February 12, 1920. Serial No. 858,088.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Taornou Boannc, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and residin at .Fairlawn, Clar- 8 ence Road, Glapham ark, London, S. W. 4:,

E land, have invented certain new and useful provements in or Relating to Dr ing Processes and Apparatus Therefor, of w ich the following is a specification. This invention relates to methods of drymg by evaporation of the t in'which the matter is continually apphed to a heat transmittin surface in t e form of a thin film which 1s constantly replaced by further applications.

American patent specifications Nos. 1,150,713 and 1200,996 in the names of O. Soderland and T. Boberg, there is described a method of eva oration in which thempour given ofi' y the liquid after being compressed to raise its temperature a few degrees, is returned a ain as heating medium to the opposite si e of the eva rating surface over which the material to h: evaporated is constantly circulated as a thin moving film of li uid.

In evaporative rying by surfaces upon which the matter is spread, say for example, by the employment of a rotating drum surao face containm the heating medium, and upon the exterlor of which the matter to be evaporated is applied, it has always been considered necessary to maintain a considerable temperature difference between the as material to be 'dried and the heating medium in order to obtain a ra id heatflow' through the evaporating sur ace and thus efiect the necessary degree of dr ing within the comparatively short period t at the ma- 4o terial can remain upon a surface of a reasonable size from the time of application to the time of removal, and it was believed that the resistance to heat transmission greatl increased as the film securing contact wit the evaporating surface diminished and disappeared.

Further the adhesion of solid matter to a heat transmitting surface has been considered objectionab e, as it is believed to ob- 59 struct the passage of heat therethrough, and when eva rating liquids which have a tendency to me thick at hi her concentrations, it has been propose heating sai to providescrapers which throughout the evaporatin operation constantl disturb the materia on the heating sur ace in order to keep it clean.

We have, however, found that given the necessary conditions'drying can be effected upon an eva orating surface with only a few degrees iiference between the temperature of evaporation and the temperature of the heating medium.

The object of the present invention is to a ply the evaporating methods indicated in t e s ecificatlons of the above-mentioned American patents to evaporative drying.

. The invention consists in a method of obtaining solids by evaporative drying, according to which material such as a solution or suspension of a solid in a liquid is thinly distributed upon a heating surface to which the drying material more or less adheres during its treatment, and the va our given off during the drying process, a er having its temperature raised a small amount by compression is utilized as the medium for surface.

The invention further consists in apparatus for operatin in accordance with the method set fort in the preceding paragragh, in which the material is continuousy istributed upon a heated plate or like surface within a closed chamber, the :vapour given ofi being returned after com ression as the heat supplying medium, w is the substance is not removed from said surface until it attains the desired dryness required in the treatment.

The invention further consists in applying the method of he a drying surface .by the vapour given 0 therefrom, after the tem erature of the vapour has been raised a smal amount by compression as above described to evaporative drying in two or more stages in order to reduce the size of ap aratus required for a given output of dried materia v The invention further consists in a method of evaporative by means of a heated medium derived y t e compression of the evolved vapour, according to which pulpy or like substanoehaving a high water content is dried to a semi-solid or other condition of lower water content in apparatus of suitable dimensions and the resulting matter is then passed to one or more appliances of suitable capacity and construction in which the water content is further reduced to any desired amount.

The invention also consists in improvements in or relating to rocesses and/or apparatus for drying solid matter in combination or admixture with liquid as hereinafter described. f

Referring now to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings:

Figure 1 illustrates onefconvenient installation for carrying the invention into effect.

Figure 2 shows a way of carrying the invention into effect when usin two rotatin drums and material. which W111 readily a here to the surfaces in both stages.

p In accordance with this invention when d Fi two rums in which the material in the second stage wilt-not of itself adhere to the dryin sur ace.

igure 4 shows "an arrangement with a difierent type of a aratus for carrying out the second stage 0 t e process.

re 3 shows another arrangement of operatedin one convenient form, raw peat at ordinary temperature and having a water content. in the nei hborhood of 94% is delivered by a suitab e'pump a through a surwater and a surface contact heat intertact face contact heat interchanger b heated by changpr c heated by steam into a direct coneater d from which it passes to a trough e by means of which it is applied to thesurface of a drum f rotating in a sealed casing g.

, Within trough e is a second overflow trou h t for collecting any pulp which may fall om the drum and forreturning it together with a constant overflow from the trough e by means of the pump it into the direct contact heater (1, thus by continuous circulation maintaining the pulp ,in the trough e in a uniform condition. Into the interior of the drum f steam, say at a temperature of about 105 ered by a compressor h which draws the steam evolved on the outer "surface of the drum f at about 100 C. from the casing g and raises its temperature b the necessary small amount of, say 5 C. by compression. Within the casing g in contact with the downwardly moving side of the drum f are scra re 5 which remove the more or less dri e matter from the surface of the drum f rior to its. re-entering the trough he and d6? IVGI' it by means .of a collecti hopper j and conveyor is to the hopper l o a briquettin press m or other desired location.

ower for the installation is conveniently derived from a boiler n supplying steam say at 20 kilo amines per 216 C. w ch is iinrther eated in the superheater 0 to a temperature of 860 G. and

the casing g and adjacent to the uare centimetre and A further supply pipe 8 with valire s is also taken from a lower stage in the turbine to supply steam at 105 C. to the drum 7 when required for startin make up or other puroses, as indicated in the specifications beore referred to.

The water of condensation from the drum f passesby a connection '2) and steam tra o to the hot water heater 6 from which it is finally rejected at a tem erature say in the neighbourhood of 20 after heating the raw peat. The condensed steam from the steam heater 0 also passes by way of the connection w and steam trap w to the water heater 6.

Steam at 105 C. may be taken from the rum f by means of a connection a: to the surface contact steam heater 0, and some.

steam not condensed therein may, under control of the valve 3 be returned through the connection a and be utilized in the direct contact heater d where in the absence, of partitions necessarily retarding the heat transmission there need only be a small difference between the temperature to which the peat is raised and that of the heating medium, the peat may here be heated to about 100 C. or the templerature of evaporation before passing to t e drum and may thus be substantially freed of air and fixed gases which may escape at the outlet d at a tem erature of say 92 C. or very little above t e temperature (say about C.) of the entering peat. The heated peat passes by the connection 3 into the trough e.

A layer or film of the eat pulp is taken up by the surface of the rum as it moves through the .pulp in the troug e and said hn remains closely adherin to the surface as the vapour is driven o and until the more or less dried solid matter is removed by the scrapers z.

The more or less dried, peat entering the 110 per j may have any desired water content an may be delivered direct to a briquetting press by a conveyor is as shown, or may be subjected to any other desired treatment.

It is to be understood that the appliances for carrying this invention into effect in the dryin of peat as hereinbefore described are be appliet delivered to a trough j sarily indicated upon the diagrammatic drawing may be introduced as desired.

Where the material is of such a nature that owmg to the weight of its particles it would not of itself adhere to the heating surface, some form of supporting screen having perforations or other rovisions for the escape of the vapour, such for example as hereinafter described may be provided at any part of the surface from which the material might tend to become undesirably detached. Further such means may be employed for applying the material to a heating surface or for pressing itthereon in order to effect any desired degree of contact.

In carrying the invention into effect in the apparatus shown diagrammatically in Figure 2 say again for example, as ap lied to the treatment of peat, raw peat pul aving a water content say of 94% and eated byanyi convenient type of regenerative heat interc ange appliances to su stantially the temperature of evaporation, say about 100 C. is fed by a conduit e into a trough esituated within an enclosed casing or chambow.

ithin the chamber 9 is a rotatable dry-- ing drum f, a portion of the lower circumferential surface of which dips into the pulp in the trough e, a second trough t being also provided to accommodate any overflow from the trough e and for circulation as hereinbefore described.

The drum f is heated by the vapour iven off from the material which is being ried upon the surface of the drum, said vapour, say at a temperature of 100 C. being withdrawn through the connection 71. and delivered by the comliressor h, say at a temperature in the nei h orhood of 105 C. mto the interior of t e drum through the'connection h.

The surface of the drum 7 picks up a thin film or layer of the peat material from the trough e which layer more or less adheres to .the surface and is carried thereby until its water content has been reduced to a predetermined amount, say for exam le to 80% when the layer of material whic will then assume a more or plastic consistency is removed by suitable scrafping devices 7! and cm which it may be removed by suitable means, say a screw I conveyor operating in the bottom of'the trophg e more or less plastic material withdrawn from the casing 9 may be carried through a conduit k by means of a second screw conveyor is capable of exertin sufficient pressure on the material to disc arge it from a .slot 4 in a'conduit 5 on to the surface of a second drum f similar but if reuired of difierent dimensions to the first drum and working in a similarly enclosed casingg'. I

The ,peat material is squeezed out in a thin layer so that it will adhere to the circumferential surface of the drum f by which it is carried round until its water content has been reduced by evaporation, say down to about 10% when the material is removed from the surface by scrapers z" and removed from the chamber, say in the manner already described, or by any other suitable means.

The second drum f is heated in an exactly similar manner tothe first, say by a compressor h withdrawing the vapour throu h the pipe h and delivering it at a slighy increased temperature into the interior of the drum f through the pipe h.

For starting the apparatus the drums f and f may be first heated by live steam or vapour of a suitable tem erature from any convenient exterior supp y, and means may be provided for making up for waste heat in any suitable manner as hereinbefore indicated. Any suitable devices may also be added for regenerating the heat of the condensate which is discharged from the drums and for preheating the material to be treated in any-suitable manner, and in any case it is desirable that the material shall be heated sufficiently to drive off the air and fixed gases which it may contain before it is delivered into the drum chamber. Similar precautions for the removal or exclusion of air are also desirable in the passage of the partially dried material from one stage of the apparatus to the other.

As an instance of the economy in the size of apparatus which may be attained through working in two stages, peat ulp of 94% water content if dried upon t e surface of only one drum might have its water evaporated at an average rate of 10 kilogrammes per square metre per hour, which for one ton per hour of raw peat treated would entail an evaporation of 933 kilogrammes of water, and the employment of a drum provided with 931]; square metres of heating surface.

If the operation is performed upon two drums of which the first effects a reduction of water content from 94% to 80% and the second a reduction of from 80% to 10%, the first drum will have to eva orate 700 kilogrammes of water per hour, w ich could be accomplished at the rate of 30 kilo ams per square metre er hour and woul thus require a drum aving only 523i; square metres surface. The second drum would require to eva orate 233 kilogrammes per hour which might be effected at an evaporation of 8 kilogrammes per square metre heating surface, or broadly speaking a reduction in heating surface of very nearly one-half.

In dividing the operation into two stages as hereinbefore described, it has been arranged in such a manner that the material in both stages is capable of adhering to the drum without any additional support, but for some materials and/or different division of the stages the material passing into the second stage ma be of such a nature that it would not of itself adhere or stick to the heating surface.

An arrangement for dealing with such conditions is shown in Figure 3, in which the apparatus for the first stage is similar to that already described for the first stage in Fi re 2, but the material having reached a divlded, powdered or like condition by the time it is removed by the scrapers z is fed by a screw conveyor or other suitable means is to a revolving perforated cylindrical pipe or cylinder 6 positioned in the casin g" of the second drum f and distributing t e material upon a reticulate, perforated, sievelike porous or like endless band conveyor 7 surrounding the greater portion of the periphe of the drum f and having an extended ortion formed into a loopby the guide ro ers 8 and 9.

The material is evenl distributed upon the band in a layer or 1m of the required cylinder 6 and is thickness by the rotating carried by the band into .contact with the drying surface against which it is held while the surface, material and band move together through the eater portion of the circumference of the rum. The band leaves the surface of the drum to pass to the guide roller 8 and the released la er of material may then fall directly into 1: e trough 10 or if necessary be removed by scra ers 11 adjacent to the side of the trough. he trough 10 may be fitted with a conveyor screw 12 or other convenient means for removing the material from the a aratus and both of the drums are heated y the vapour given ofi by the drying material after the temperature of the vapour has been raised sulficiently in its passage through the compressors h, it.

Instead of using a band as last described, sowdery or likematerial removed from the rum casing may be as shown in Figure 4 fed into the top of an upright cylindrical vessel 11 fitted throughout its length with a series of superimposed horizontal hollow platforms or trays 12, each provided with a central aperture 13 to accommodate a shaft 14 rotating co-axially' in the cylindrical vessel. v

The platforms 12 in additionto the central aperture may also each be provided wlth a radial slot or series of apertures arm a radial direction, the slot or apertures of one platform bein slightly in advance of those of the next p atform below it and so on in the direction in which the shaft 14 is intended to rotate.

The rotating shaft 14 is provided with a series of arms 15 carrying brushes, scrapers or like distributing means 16. A pair or set of arms working over the surface of each of the platforms 12 and carrying the material deposited upon the said platform round until it falls through the slots or apertures on to the next. The material will be deposited by the cap 17 upon the top platform and after completing the circuit thereof will fall to the next, round which it is carried and so on until it reaches the bottom of the apparatus from whence it may be removed by any suitable conveyor or other means. The shaft 14 may be driven through suitable gearing 18, 19, from a shaft 20 supported in bearings 21 and passin through to the exterior of the casing w ere it is fitted with suitable driving pulle s 22.

The vapour given off from the rying material is collected by the compressor 1 through the pipe h and after compression to raise its temperature a small amount is delivered to the header 26 whence it passes to the interior of the hollow platforms 12 by means of the connections 23, the condensed liquid being removed from the platforms upon the opposite side orother suitable position b means of connections 24 running into a raining header 25, the heat of the liquid being re-utilized as desired.

In the illustrations given by way of ex ample a separate compressor is shown for dea ing with the vapour of each stage of the a paratus, and in some cases it may be desirable to adopt this arrangement and to work the two stages at different pressures. In other cases the vapor ma be withdrawn from both units of a comp ete installation and delivered to the drying elements of said units in series, the vapour not condensed in thefirst passing on after further-compression if desirable to the second, or any other suitable arrangement may be employed.

As an alternative to the endless band conveyor hereinbefore described, a band may be arranged to carry a layer of material into a closed casin in which a heating drum or other suitable heating surface is sitioned, sealing means such as pressing r0 ers or the like being dprovided at the entry and exit of the ban in order to form a tight joint. Such a band or carrier may be adapted: either to press the material in actual contact with the heating surface or merely carry it around with the band itself in contact with the heatin surface and. the material adhering to its op osite side. In some cases it may be desira le for a band to carry the matenal over a stationary surface, but nerally speaking itis preferable for the hand me and heating surface to move at substantially the same speed so that when once the material has reached the heating surface it remains in contact therewith until the desired de ree of dryness has been attainedy means of such bands or like appliances materials of a pul y, granular or powdered or other form and avmg any water content up to or exceeding 50%. may be satisfactorily treated, and the band may form a transmitting means for carrying the material from a previous or to a subsequent apparatus for other desired treatment.

The apparatus utilized may of course be varied to suit any particular requirement and the vessel or vessels may for example, be stationary and the material alternately poured on wet and removed dry.

In the examples described one or two stages only have been mentioned, bu t in some instances it may be desirable to introduce three or any other number of sta es, the material passing from one to the ot er in any of the ways illustratedor described.

The area of the heating surfaces in any two or. more stages together with thespeed of application andremoval of the material is adjusted to efiect the desired amount of evaporation in each stage so as to com lete the drying operation with a paratus o the Imos:i convenient size for .t e' purpose in Although described in connection with the treatment of peat, it is to be understood that apparatus ashereinbefore described may be used for treating any other moist material which is to be dried, also that other forms of apparatus suitable for performing the required functions by-means of the vapour compression evaporative method may be substituted for that hereinbefore described. Material of suitable water content may also be treated in any one or more types of apparatus most suitable for performing the particular operations which are required, and modifications and additions may also be introduced without in any way departing from the spirit of this invention.

The power utilized for driving the compressor' is to a certain extent transferred into heat, which makes the process, once started, self-supporting as regards heat. The power required for the compressor and for the revolving of the vessel, etc., costs, expressed in calories, merely a fraction of what would be. the cost if the drying were conducted by any other known method.

In view of the fact that in accordance with the present invention the latent heat of the evaporated liquid is utilized for evaporating a further quantity of the liquid the heat economy thereby established renders it possible, not only to facilitate and cheapen the drying of materials which are at presentbeing dried by various methods, but it also opens out a new field and makes it possible tities of added heat a comparative y small number of calories are emp ses. aving now described my invention, what I claim'as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The method of vapourizing liquids consisting in moving a heat transmitting partition formingiplart of a closed vessel to spread thereon a t film of material adapted to evolve steam or vapour and deposit solid matter, withdrawing and mechanically compressing said steam to raise its temperature and applying the steam as a heating medium to the opposite surface of said partition, and separately removing the water of condensation and the deposited matter.

oyed for power 2. A method of vapourizing liquid coming surface.

.3. The method of evaporating liquids which consists in supplying wet matter to a suitable casing, pickmg up the matter from the-supply in the lower part of said casing on a moving exterior surface of a closed vessel having a heat conducting wall thus raising a thin film of the matter from the supply onto said heat conducting wall, exhausting the vapours from the casing, compress ing them mechanically to raise their temperature and returningv them to the. interior of the moving vessel.

4. An evaporating apparatus for I'B-lltillZflftion of latent heat comprising a moving heat.- transmitting partition, means for ap lyin to said partition an adhesive film of eated material, means for collecting the vapour given ofi by said heated material, and means for raising the temperature of said vapour by compression and returning it as the heating medium to the other side ofsaid partition. i

5. An apparatus for evaporating liquid from solid material by the re-utilization of latent heat, comprising a rotatable heat transmitting partition, means for applying a fihn of material onto the surface of said partition to cause it to adhere thereto, means for collecting the va our given ofi by the said film of material? and means for raising the temperature of said vapour by compression and returnin it as the heating medium to the other si eof said Part1tion.

6. Apparatus for d ing material by the re-utilization of latent eat in a plurality of stages, comprising a plurality of moving heat transmitting partitions, means for applying to the first of said partitions liquid material, means for raising the temperature of the evolved vapour by mechanical compression and returning it to the other side of the first partition, and means for trans ferring successively the material thus deprived of a part of its liquid content to another succeeding similarly heated and suitably proportioned partition.

7. An apparatus for drying material by the re-utilization of latent heat, comprising in combination a closed chamber, a heated drum rotatable in said chamber, means for applying a thin layer of moist material to the surface of said drum, means for withdrawing the evolved vapour from said chamber, ralsing its temperature and returning it to the interior of said drum as the heating medium, means for evacuatin from the bottom of said drum liquid resu ting from the condensation of said vapour, and means for collecting the material from the drum surface after its liquid, content has been reduced.

8. Apparatus for drying material by the re-utilization of latent heat, comprising in combination a drying drum, means for applyin material to be dried to the surface of said rum, means for transferring the material after losing part of its liquid content to a second drum, means for collecting the vapour evolved from the dryin surfaces, and means for compressing and t us raising the temperature of said vapour and returning it as the heating medium to the inside of said drying drums.

9. An apparatus for economizing heat in the drying of materials com rising in combination an enclosing cham er, a rotatable closed vessel in the form of a drum in said chamber, a mechanical compressor, a conduit connecting said chamber to the inlet of said compressor, a conduit connecting the discharge from said compressor to the interior of said drum, means for spreading a film of moist material on the exterior of said drum, means for evacuating from said drum liquid of condensation and imparting its heat to more material, and means for removing the material from which vapour has been evolved from the exterior of said drum.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

TEOFRON BOBERG. Witnesses:

SAVIILLE AUBREY BROOKE, ELU Pn'rrnmuo. 

